Indicted Sewerage & Water Board member resigns

Andrew Boyd / The Times-Picayune archiveBenjamin Edwards was photographed in 1994 at the site of a neighborhood redevelopment project on Metropolitan Street being carried out by Third Shiloh Baptist Church.

Benjamin Edwards, who was indicted last week for allegedly using his position on the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board to force companies to funnel millions of dollars to himself and his younger brother, has resigned from the board.

In a letter dated Dec. 14, Edwards asked that his resignation be effective Nov. 21. Mayor Ray Nagin announced at a board meeting today that the resignation has been accepted.

Nagin said the allegations concern him, and he will look into the status of companies allegedly involved in the Edwards schemes that still have contracts with the board.

"It concerns me, but I've been an auditor before and the toughest thing to catch is collusion," Nagin said. "I'm also concerned about the companies involved that still do business with the board."

Benjamin Edwards' brother, Bruce Edwards, has pleaded guilty to related charges. Another local pastor, Bishop Oliver "O.C." Coleman, has pleaded guilty to concealing his knowledge of a portion of the scheme.

The lengthy federal indictment details numerous instances where Edwards demanded that companies doing city sewerage and water work contribute "donations" or "scholarships" to Third Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, where he held the titles of reverend, master teacher and director. He then redirected the money to himself and his brother Bruce, it alleges.

If convicted on all 33 counts, which include extortion, wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion, Edwards could face a prison sentence of more than 400 years. He is scheduled to be arraigned next week.

Edwards, 55, was appointed to the 13-member water board two decades ago by Mayor Sidney Barthelemy. Nagin has allowed him to stay on the board but has not officially reappointed him since his term expired in late 2003.

Edwards has been an ardent Nagin supporter, spending about $270,000 on the mayor's 2006 re-election effort. The money, some of which Edwards said he raised from others, was used mostly for billboards and radio ads in Memphis, Tenn.; Houston and other cities with large numbers of Katrina evacuees. It was not subject to donation limits because it was considered an "independent expenditure" not coordinated with the Nagin campaign.

According to the indictment, some of the ill-gotten money was donated to political campaigns and in 2006 was used to buy political advertising. Letten said that more than one campaign was involved but would not elaborate on which campaigns received the money.

Edwards' attorney, Robert Jenkins, has said his client is innocent. He would not comment on the resignation.

In addition to his prolific fundraising on Nagin's behalf, Edwards is known for his championing of minority contractors. He has complained loudly when he believes minority-owned firms have not received the subcontracts they are entitled to under board rules. But a sham "disadvantaged business enterprise" played a key part in Edwards' money-making plots.

Just after Hurricane Katrina, Edwards allegedly used his influence to get MCCI a subcontract with a Colorado company called Montgomery Watson Harza, a regular contractor that billed the water board as much as $10 million a year.

In return for inspecting debris removal and sewer-related operations in post-Katrina New Orleans, MCCI received more than $3 million from MWH. Bruce Edwards directed about $1.6 million of that money to a checking account at Third Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church controlled by his brother, the indictment alleges.

Between 1999 and 2005, according to the indictment, Edwards also shook MWH down for a total of about $100,000 in "scholarship donations" to Third Shiloh Church.

Edwards' connections to MCCI -- and his brother's work for the firm -- were reported in The Times-Picayune in May 2006. Days later, federal prosecutors issued a subpoena to the water board seeking all records associated with the firm.

Another company, James L. Jones Construction Co., or JLJ, was the victim of the two counts of extortion alleged by federal prosecutors. From October 1999 to December 2004, according to the indictment, Edwards directed water board work to JLJ, demanding in return that JLJ make regular payments totaling $750,000 to Third Shiloh.

Edwards required Fleming Construction Co., the prime contractor, to steer $100,000 of the money due to JLJ as a "management fee" to an entity called Prosperity that was controlled by Bruce Edwards. About $40,000 of the money obtained by Prosperity in this manner was deposited in a Third Shiloh bank account.

In December 2004, Edwards asked JLJ to give another $7,000 to Third Shiloh, but JLJ refused. Edwards allegedly retaliated by reducing the amount of water board work JLJ received.

The indictment also alleges Edwards instructed water board employees to pay certain companies on an expedited basis so that he and his brother Bruce would have readier access to the money channeled through those companies. It usually takes three to four months for water board contractors to get paid, but those companies were reimbursed in only 10 days.

In 2003, Edwards failed to pay federal taxes on $208,248 worth of income, the indictment states. In 2004, Edwards made $87,333 and in 2005 his income jumped to over $1.7 million, but he did not file a tax return in either of those years.